Bhagwan Dada: Remembering The Legend And The Pioneer

Bhagwan Dada has been forgotten by the very film industry he helped evolve. A tribute to the man and the star

With slightly bulging eyes and a hefty build, he was hardly the quintessential romantic hero. And yet, when he jiggled in his trademark style, Bhagwan Abhaji Palav - aka Bhagwan Dada - had the audience matching his steps to Shola Jo Bhadke and Bholi Surat from their hearts. He owned it.

Senior Bachchan was so inspired by him that he wanted to dance like Bhagwan Dada. Even the likes of Govinda and Mithun Chakraborty were inspired by him. But hardly anyone remembers this pioneer in Hindi cinema today.

But perhaps that will change with the Marathi film Ekk Albela that brings to life the rags-to-riches-to-rags story of India’s first dance and action hero. I caught up with actor Mangesh Desai, who plays Dada on screen with Vidya Balan as Geeta Bali.

When Dada entered the industry, the number of Bengali actors were reducing while more Punjabi actors were coming in. It was during this time that this Marathi man dared to carve a place for himself in the Hindi film industry to. Someone who had seven cars, Asha studio and a lot of property at that time and was Raj Kapoor’s favourite, had to be a big shot. I remember hearing stories about Raj Kapoor jokingly telling him to bring his style into social films or else, he’d do it himself. Many people know and talk about his last days when he lost everything. But when I read the script, I liked the fact that it traces how he attained so much glory. It is very important that we know it. 

Mangesh Desai

The son of a textile mill worker, Dada grew up in the labour areas of Dadar and Parel and had to give up on studies after the 4th standard. He grew up to be one of the best comic actors in Bollywood and in 1940, was declared the richest actor with a fleet of cars for every day of the week.

He not only gave the Hindi film fraternity blockbuster songs to dance to, but is also considered the first dancing hero in Indian cinema to emerge from the silent era. But today, he is all but forgotten.

Honestly, the current generation doesn’t know him, has not seen him. The challenge was to be him without much reference but without it coming across as mimicry. There was no research material except the film Albela, which was supposedly an idea of  Raj Kapoor’s. It is a story of a daydreamer and an artist. I watched the film some 25 times because that was the only research material we had.

Mangesh Desai

What strikes one immediately is the facial similarity of Dada and Desai. “Yes, Shekhar Sartandel (the director) once called me to meet him and showed me a photograph, in which he had already marked the similarities between me and Dada. With the magic of Vidyadhar Bhatte (make-up artist), we achieved the look. We haven’t used any prosthetics,” says Mangesh, adding that he feels that the film, which has been on floors for the last three years, has been blessed by Dada,

“Otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to grab such a big rainbow. It is all magic.”

As I juggle my memory I remember that he started as a fighter and was from a poor family. He would shoot for long hours and was the only actor who would stand in front of the light so much that he learnt the art of sleeping while standing. He took up dancing and according to me, the way he danced is real dancing. It was relatable and easy. Many people copied the way he danced because it was so much fun. Isn’t dancing all about that? He was very fond of me as I also had this ‘dancing image’. I remember dancing with him on many occasions and he would teach me how to do certain steps. My father was very fond of him and I remember one of his sons worked with the RK Studios for Mera Naam Joker or Bobby.      

Rishi Kapoor

You know Awaara and Albela released on the same day and both were big hits. Yes, he fell on bad times and later did a lot of small parts in many films as well. He was a very senior actor and came from the silent times. I am indebted to him for the dance steps. Much later, many dance masters told me, ‘Do the Bhagwan dada step.’ May his soul rest in peace. 

Rishi Kapoor

Dada started as a comedian but all he dreamed was of emulating stunts on celluloid. In fact, he was the first to introduce hand-in-hand combat and the concept of body doubles to Indian Cinema. Thanks to this man actors today don’t feel any pain when it comes to dangerous action sequences.

Interestingly, the suspense-horror genre too made its debut in our country under the aegis of Bhagwan Dada. He was ridiculed every step of the way while making Bhedi Bangla before it impressed V. Shantaram, and things changed drastically for the better.

Somewhere in 1942 in the midst of shooting a particular scene for a film where Bhagawan Dada was to slap Lalita Pawar, serious misfortune struck. Lalita was accidently slapped very hard by Dada, and she was left with facial paralysis and a burst vein in the left eye. Three years of treatment later, Lalita was left with a defective eye.

Dada broke all records with Albela, but fate had other plans. He incurred heavy losses when he invested his entire savings and his wife’s jewellery in Haste Rehna. The film had to be ultimately shelved when its lead star Kishore Kumar began jeopardizng the shoot with his eccentricities.

Dada’s heart broke. His films couldn’t even survive the first show.

Friends deserted him and one day, he had to sell his sea-facing bungalow with 25 rooms in Juhu along with his fleet of cars. The family moved to a two-room chawl in Dadar.  

He died all alone. The magic was gone and so was Dada.